Actually, THIS is America:

[hoby]

I apologize for the inflamatory subject line, but at least it got you here.

If you care about film, culture, free speech, the future of media, or Jack Valenti's bizarre eyebrows, you REALLY need to see "This Film is Not Yet Rated."

http://www.ifc.com/films?aId=18019

Watched it last night and enjoyed it immensely, even as it pissed me off no end.

hoby

[magpie]

wow that looks cool.

also, i started watching this film last night, about the creation of the income tax, the IRS, and the fact that there is no law on the books requiring the payment of income tax. and it doesn't stop there... fascinating and disturbing. this is a must see!

[Phrazz]

the fact that there is no law on the books requiring the payment of income tax

I'm not so sure about there being no tax laws (except a nuance of the term or historical context). We have tomes of tax codes (books and books) which are all law, and establish various penalties for breaking these. I'm fairly certain that many in jail for tax offenses would argue this point of "fact". I'll have to see the movie to know what this means. Given that Aaron Russo did Trading Places and produced Zeppelin and apparently brought them to America, he has some street cred.

The thing is maybe he has a very valid point, but the tax laws exist and are being enforced, so there is the de facto situation versus some historical ideal. They may not be just (many laws are not just, so justice is always evolving or devolving depending on your point of view and if you're in shackles already)...but what is fair for taxes versus what we expect society to give us in return (social security, etc)? How can we decide what our government spends? I'm not sure a nice letter will do much and sitting in jail is not as successful a technique as others. Instead, why not do what the Scientologists did and put a mole in the IRS?

-Phrazz

P.S.: Subject is a quote from what movie?

[Dan]

REPO_MAN[/b]

[magpie]

yes, we have a tax code but that's not the same thing as an actual LAW requiring you to pay income tax. there are state laws that say you are required to pay state income tax if you are required to pay federal. but, again, there is no federal law. it's all based on the supposition that there is a federal law that was in fact never ratified. the courts have just gone along with it all this time. more recently, however, there have been many cases of folks being arrested and going to court, only to be acquitted because the jury couldn't in good conscience find them guilty if there is no law.

that's a vague summary.
the details are fuzzy in my brain.
you just have to watch it for yourself, and then you decide.

[etahn]

find one in every car. you'll see.